Cleveland Indians' Yan Gomes skids to a stop after rounding third base on a single by Michael Bourn in the seventh inning of a baseball game against the Kansas City Royals Monday, April 21, 2014, in Cleveland. The Indians won 4-3. (AP Photo/Mark Duncan)

Photo: Mark Duncan, Associated Press

Cleveland Indians' Yan Gomes skids to a stop after rounding third...

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Cleveland Indians catcher Yan Gomes talks to starting pitcher Corey Kluber (28) in the first inning of a baseball game against the San Diego Padres Tuesday, April 8, 2014, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Mark Duncan)

Cleveland Indians' Yan Gomes runs out a ground ball during a baseball game against the Minnesota Twins, Friday, April 4, 2014, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Tony Dejak)

Photo: Tony Dejak, Associated Press

Cleveland Indians' Yan Gomes runs out a ground ball during a...

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Apr 6, 2014; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Indians catcher Yan Gomes (right) celebrates his two-run home run with left fielder Michael Brantley (23) in the second inning against the Minnesota Twins at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports

Photo: David Richard, Reuters

Apr 6, 2014; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Indians catcher Yan...

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Cleveland Indians' Yan Gomes watches his ball after hitting a solo home run off Minnesota Twins starting pitcher Mike Pelfrey in the sixth inning of a baseball game, Friday, April 4, 2014, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Mark Duncan)

Photo: Mark Duncan, Associated Press

Cleveland Indians' Yan Gomes watches his ball after hitting a solo...

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Atlee Hammaker leaves Candlestick Park the night before an October 1987 playoff start.

Photo: Deanne Fitzmaurice, The Chronicle

Atlee Hammaker leaves Candlestick Park the night before an October...

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Atlee Hammaker, former San Francisco Giants pitcher, works with his daughters Anna, 8 (left) and Alesa, 13 (right) on their basketball skills at Karns High School in Knoxville, TN in 2005.

Photo: Jason R. Davis

Atlee Hammaker, former San Francisco Giants pitcher, works with his...

Here is some advice for protective fathers who are not keen on the men their daughters are dating: Mind your own business. You never know what greatness lies ahead for these boys.

Take Yan Gomes, who is expected to be behind the plate for the Indians on Friday night when they face Tim Hudson and the Giants at AT&T Park.

Gomes met a fellow student in 2008 when he played for the University of Tennessee. Her dad told her not to date a baseball player. She ignored him. They married in 2012, and Gomes is now able to support her with a six-year, $23 million contract that he signed just before this season.

Those were the first words out of Atlee Hammaker when a reporter phoned the former Giants pitcher and 1983 All-Star to ask about the union of Jenna Hammaker, the second of his five daughters, and Gomes, who in 2012 became the first Brazilian-born player in the major leagues.

The wedding photo looks like any other, with the bride, her parents and groom all smiles, except that one man pitched in the majors for 12 seasons, including eight with the Giants, and the other is three seasons into a thus-far successful baseball career.

The story behind this wedding includes a chance meeting on the Tennessee campus and a dad who tried to dissuade his little girl from seeing a ballplayer because he knew how hard the life was and, quite frankly, how scurrilous major-leaguers can be, especially on the road.

Atlee knew. He lived the life. He saw it every day from his rookie season in 1981 until his retirement in 1995.

"I didn't really want her dating athletes and ballplayers, to be honest with you," he said from his home in Knoxville, Tenn. "I told her, 'They're not all like me.' She used to bring some baseball players to the house. I had no idea it would lead to anything. I told her it was a waste of time and energy."

But in a story as old as Methuselah, daughter ignored father.

"I was always a rebel and did what he told me not to do," Jenna, 25, said from her home in Cleveland.

Gomes, 26, spent the first 12 years of his life in Brazil. Even though he lived in a soccer-mad country, he played ball as a tot.

"I actually started playing like a typical kid when I was 6 years old," he said. "We kind of had a small community in Brazil that played baseball. When I moved up here, I kept it up."

Gomes' family emigrated to Florida when he was 12 so the children could get a better education. He starred in high school and picked Tennessee for college ball. Atlee Hammaker helped the coaches there, and Jenna knew one of the players, who introduced her to Gomes when he was a sophomore and she was a freshman.

"Apparently he was a big deal at University of Tennessee, but I never heard of him," said Jenna, who was born in San Francisco while her dad was a Giant.

It was love at first sight - for Yan. Jenna was not smitten right away, but her feelings grew along with his persistence.

"He has a very good heart," she said. "He's got a great personality. Fun to be around. He's a very family-oriented person. He loves his family. I'm really attracted to that because I have four sisters."

When they started dating, Atlee was not happy. His wife, Jenny, was not entirely keen on the idea either. After all, she was a baseball wife and knew the difficulties and pitfalls.

Jenna and Yan were not deterred.

"Hey," he said. "Love is love. You can't hold it back."

When Atlee sensed that Jenna was not to take his advice about dating Yan, he did what every good father does in that situation. He became a private eye, asking the Tennessee coaches about Yan's makeup. He liked what he heard.

"He's a Christian young man," Atlee said. "He loves the Lord and he loves Jenna."

Jenna did not immediately tell her new boyfriend that her dad lived the dream that Yan desperately wanted, to become a big-league ballplayer. When she did, Yan started to pick Atlee's brain as the two men gradually warmed to each other.

"He's definitely given me some good advice," Gomes said. "He told me to have fun and enjoy the time I have playing. You end up being retired longer than you play. One thing he said he definitely feels is, he should have enjoyed it more."

The kids maintained a long-distance relationship when Gomes transferred as a junior to Barry College, a small school in Florida, and after the Blue Jays used their 10th-round pick in 2009 to take him. (They traded him to the Indians last year.)

In 2011, Gomes impressed Atlee Hammaker immensely with an old-fashioned gesture. Over a nice dinner, he asked Hammaker for permission to propose to Jenna. It took the young ballplayer three private get-togethers to screw up the courage.

"He said she was the love of his life, that he would take care of her," Atlee said. "He had his priorities right. I had no reservations about it. I was happy."

So was Jenna. She said yes right away. They were married in 2012. Now, she is a baseball wife with a degree in psychology that her dad jokes will serve her well being married to a big-leaguer.

"It's a tough lifestyle," Gomes said. "It takes a special girl to live this lifestyle. Jenna's done an extremely good job of it."

But she won't be coming to San Francisco to watch her husband play against the Giants. She is expecting their first child, a little girl, in 10 days and said in all seriousness, "Yan might be getting a call in San Francisco and might have to leave."

This will be the first grandchild for Atlee and Jenny Hammaker.

The little girl will have an interesting heritage. Her father Yan is Brazilian and Grandpa Atlee is an American with half-Japanese ancestry.

If she goes to college in 18 years and decides to date a ballplayer, you can bet that her dad and grandfather will not say a word.